Hedge Fund Fraud, JP Morgan, Merrill Lynch, Kaupthing Bank

New York (HedgeCo.Net) – Also in the news today, the Guardian reports that JP Morgan is facing a $2 billion fine for involvement in the Bernard Madoff hedge fund ponzi scheme.

The paper reports that the banking giant has tentatively agreed to pay in order to settle allegations that it knew about and failed to inform US authorities of Madoff’s suspicious activity.

“The agreement would be the second time in a month that JP Morgan has been forced to acknowledge wrongdoing,’ the Guardian says, “On November 19 the bank paid a record $13 billion to settle charges that it routinely bundled poor quality home loans into securities that were billed as high-quality to investors.”

The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Merrill Lynch with making faulty disclosures about collateral selection for two collateralized debt obligations (CDO) that it structured and marketed to investors, and maintaining inaccurate books and records for a third CDO. Merrill Lynch agreed to pay $131.8 million to settle the SEC’s charges.

(Iceland) “Four former executives of Kaupthing Bank will recieve between 3 and 5 1/2 years in prison for financial crimes dating back to 2008.” The Reykjavik Grapevine reports. “Investigations into the four go back to the Icelandic bank crash of autumn 2008. In the wake of a report on the contributing causes of the crash from the Special Investigative Commission, the Special Prosecutor’s Office was created. The office targeted many top bank officials from Glitnir and Kaupthing.”